enlarger lenses: the best.

locutus · Apr 4, 2018

John Galt said:
Thanks jjphoto. Are APO lenses marked as such?

Not always, but often they are. Rodenstock and Schneider explicitly mark them as APO in the product names.

And yes, with a bit of looking around highend enlarger lenses can be rather cheap. I paid 80 euros for my APO-Rodagon 50mm. At that kind of prices there is very little to fuss over. (especially not compared to the price of good camera lenses....)

trendland · Apr 4, 2018

John Galt said:
Thanks jjphoto. Are APO lenses marked as such?

.....no manufacturer would forget to cover out explizite the "APO" corection of it's special lenses and they are ALL market by most expensive prices

with regards

EdSawyer · Apr 4, 2018

The rarer, more high-end apo enlarging lenses still bring real money: Apo El Nikkors, Apo Rodagon Ns, Apo Componons. Their 'new life' is as macro lenses or just general shooting lenses for the digital/bellows/closeup crowd.

Martin Rickards · Apr 4, 2018

Price was normally indicated but it was not a factor in the ranking. The Meopta Meogon 50mm f2.8 equalled the performance of the Apo Rodagon 50mm f2.8, whereas the discontinued Meopta Meogon 50mm f5.6 bettered it.

jjphoto · Apr 4, 2018

John Galt said:
Thanks jjphoto. Are APO lenses marked as such?

The 'APO' term is a marketing tool which is used whenever possible because it allows companies to claim higher performance therefore charge more money.

The Computar dL 1.9/55 is a rare case where the exact same lens was marketed in both apo and non apo designations (ie not different optical formulas which is the case with Rodenstock). The apo lens was called the 'apo-Computar dL 1.9/55'. I have pictures of both (on my computer) but they are not hosted online so I can't link them to show.

jjphoto · Apr 4, 2018

EdSawyer said:
The rarer, more high-end apo enlarging lenses still bring real money: Apo El Nikkors, Apo Rodagon Ns, Apo Componons. Their 'new life' is as macro lenses or just general shooting lenses for the digital/bellows/closeup crowd.

I use EL's as taking lenses on an A7R2, but at normal distances (not macro). The Meogon 2.8/80 and Meogon 2.8/50 are a couple of my favourites, as is the Computar dL 1.9/55. I just used the 2.8/80 a few days ago for some 'portrait' pics. All three of the above are very sharp wide open and have very funky bokeh (read: harsh) behind the plane of focus so add character to an image. This harsh bokeh is not to everyones taste, but I like it at times.

DREW WILEY · Apr 4, 2018

You forgot Apo Nikkors. These were originally quite expensive, but due to the fact they were mainly sold to the printing industry for process cameras, now they're a bargain. Better corrected than any official enlarging lens, and only a stop slower than the Apo EL Nikkors that go for ten to twenty times as much. But no short focal length.

RalphLambrecht · Apr 5, 2018

jjphoto said:
'APO' is short for 'apochromatic' which simply means that the lens has a higher level of colour correction than normal (non-apochromatic) lenses. The common definition of an apo lens is one where three colours focus simultaneously at the plane of focus, what happens in front or behind this plane is not defined so longitudinal colour aberrations are still common. Typically an apo lens is better corrected overall and usually sharper too.

sounds like a reduction in chromatic aberration.

Martin Rickards · Apr 5, 2018

RalphLambrecht said:
sounds like a reduction in chromatic aberration.

From Wiki: Also, when considering lens design, the "APO" designation is used more conservatively in astronomy-related optics (e.g. telescopes) and microscopy than in photography. For example, telescopes that are marked "APO" are specialized, fixed focal length lenses that are optimised for infinity-like distances whereas in photography, even certain relatively low-priced general-purpose zoom lenses are given the APO designation.

halfaman · Apr 5, 2018

APO designs reduce chromatic aberrations indeed, in an enlarger this lenses should be useful when working near the wide open aperture (1-2 stops) which usally occurs with big enlargements.

Some camera lenses advertised as APO are just achromatic, which means that only two colors are corrected. True apochromatic lenses can be very challenging and expensive to produce.

DREW WILEY · Apr 5, 2018

The standard for "Apo" designation is much stricter for process lenses than for general lenses. While my Apo Rodagon N's are superb, the Apo Nikkors are conspicuously even better. Why do I use both? Differences in speed and focal length availability. But I also have some EL Nikkors and ordinary Rodagons. Each has a logical set of applications.

flavio81 · Apr 5, 2018

jjphoto said:
as is the Computar dL 1.9/55.

Serious enlarger lens collector detected!!

I bet you also have that rare lens that color-corrects by using two dials on it.

jjphoto · Apr 6, 2018

flavio81 said:
Serious enlarger lens collector detected!!

I bet you also have that rare lens that color-corrects by using two dials on it.

Yes and no. Im not interested in 'collecting' except those ELs that are nice to use.

If you mean the Janpol 5.6/80 then no, i don't have it. I do have two computar 1.9/55's however because they are a little hard to come by so you have to grab them when you can!

RalphLambrecht · Apr 6, 2018

EdSawyer said:
The rarer, more high-end apo enlarging lenses still bring real money: Apo El Nikkors, Apo Rodagon Ns, Apo Componons. Their 'new life' is as macro lenses or just general shooting lenses for the digital/bellows/closeup crowd.

and they are REALLY good at close-up.

RalphLambrecht · Apr 6, 2018

leeturner said:
At the current prices it's possible to buy a few lenses, decide what you like and then sell the others. Well that's the theory What may surprise you is that some of the less expensive lenses give great results. My favourite MF lens is a Minolta with Rodenstock for 35mm and LF. I must admit that I see little difference between the Nikon, Rodenstock and Schneider lenses that I have. The only thing I've had with some older lenses is focus shift when stopping the lens down plus the need to work at a smaller aperture. The Rodenstock 50mm works extremely well at f5.6. One other nice lens is a Durst (Schneider) 150mm that was picked up on ebay for a tenner.

good point! I also see little or no difference between name-brand lenses and some of the Durst-branded kitlenses are unbeatable; sorry to have given mine away.

ruilourosa · Apr 6, 2018

my 40mm apo componon hm is clearly better than my 60mm micro nikkor ... for close ups and repro

for enlarging... i see some differences in contrast between my old durst componons and my rodagons and el nikkors, mainly because the durst are a bit foggy

i find most 6 element lenses very similar, 1980´s on, rodagon, componon-s, el nikkor, focotar, meogon... the only apo i have is the 40mm apo componon hm and although it seems better than my 40mm el nikkor and the 40mm focotar its similar to the 50mm´s i have... and from 13x18 cm to 30x40 anaret´s from meopta are very very good beyond that they lose..

enlarger lenses: the best.

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